Asian Americans voted overwhelmingly for Jun Choi in Edison mayoral race

06.15.06 - Posted by AsiansVote

The Home News Tribune reports on a survey of Asian American voters in the 2005 election which resulted in Jun Choi becoming the mayor of Edison, New Jersey:

Choi got 97 percent of the Asian-American vote, according to the survey by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. The Korean American won the Edison contest by a mere 273 votes over fellow Democrat William Stephens, who ran as an independent.
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According to the survey, 100 percent of the South Asians who voted said they backed Choi. Of Chinese American voters, 87 percent said they backed Choi.
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In addition to the results in the Choi-Stephens race, the 2005 election survey showed that in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, 82 percent of Asian Americans cast ballots for winning Democratic candidate Jon S. Corzine and 16 percent for Republican candidate Doug Forrester, giving Corzine a 66-point margin.

Corzine got 91 percent of the vote from South Asians, and Forrester got 6 percent.

Among Korean voters, 83 percent voted for Corzine and 17 percent voted for Forrester, and among Filipino voters, 64 percent voted for Corzine and 36 percent for Forrester.

It's worth noting that the surveyors interviewed just 148 people, but these percentages are still enormously encouraging. We'll post more data as we get it.

Also worth noting is that Glenn Magpantay of Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund stressed that the survey demonstrates the need for translators at polling sites:

Magpantay said one out of three Indian voters in Edison has language barriers.

Based on the findings of the 2005 election survey, there is a need for more translators for the November general election, said Magpantay.
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James J. Vokral, administrator of the Middlesex County Board of Elections, said the county needs to expand the number of translators on Election Day. He said there were translators in the last election at 5 to 6 districts in Edison. The township has 78 voting districts.

But with the voters growing in number, "we are working with the community people to find those who are willing to work with us, especially Gujarati speaking in the Edison area."

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06.15.06 | Jun Choi , Voting Trends